Chapter four
They walked in silence to the big office upstairs, where Tsunade reigned.
Despite her getting older there was no mistaking the fire in her eyes.
"You're late." She said and her eyes narrowed. "Good morning Naruto."
"How come you nag at me but not at him?" He asked, trying to ease the tension in the room, clearly joking.
"Him I still have hope for. You on the other hand..."
"That's harsh."
"Are we going to argue over your attitude towards administrative duties or are you going to shut up and let me speak?"
He was quiet.
"Good. There's a very urgent matter that needs seeing to, imminently. I've called you both here because you both are very experienced and also because we're spread a little thin right now. I also believe that you, Naruto, have previous experience in this precise matter."
The young shinobi raised his eyebrows and tried to figure out what she could possibly mean.
"Last night someone stole a much valued artefact from our village, the Scroll of Seals, no alarms or signs of a break in could be reported. It was a guard that noticed it early this morning, purely by coincidence..."
The Scroll of Seals, or just "the scroll" was a very old and very important document from the early days of Konoha. He guessed that the incident Tsunade referred to with Naruto had been when he was younger and had managed to steal it. It was then he had learned his infamous Kagebunshin no jutsu, which had followed his path ever since. Eyewitnesses reported a countless amount of spiky-haired shinobis that had fought to save Iruka-senseis life that night. True, even then he used to make a ruckus. Some things never changed…
"Kakashi? Am I boring you?"
"Definitely not."
Damn it, pay attention.
"Anyway, everything points towards the fact that it was an inside job, someone who knew the security, the layout, the routines of the ones normally guarding it. We've already checked the enlisting of all those who were there both yesterday and up to four weeks back. All personnel has been accounted for. This is where you come in, Kakashi, we need you to use Pakkun and see if you can catch a whiff of whoever did this. Then, obviously, follow the trail wherever it leads, and if possible simply bring it back. I want this done as soon as possible, we can't risk this coming out."
She looked weary. The ominous air got thicker. Konoha couldn't handle another war.
He looked to his left. Naruto didn't speak.
Tsunade continued. "I know it's standard procedure to send either a team with only one man or four men but this is a very delicate situation and I believe that four eyes are better than two. I would have preferred to have someone with medical training with you but Sakura is away and I can't just run off with you, it'd look suspicious so you have to make do. Any objections?"
Kakashi was once again struck with how responsible she had become, so stern and with such clarity.
"It is incredibly important that we keep this quiet, the scroll is invaluable and the information in it will easily bring this entire village to its knees."
A tiny, haunting exchange of glances in between the three. "I'm trusting you."
Naruto nodded, once.
They agreed to reunite within ten minutes in front of their old training grounds. The fewer people that saw them leave, the better.
Packing didn't take him long, so used to it by now, he made his way down to the flat field and the surrounding forest. Naruto wasn't back. The ninken on the other hand appeared swiftly and began scoping out the surrounding area. He told them to get a general direction of the thief and they scattered.
He felt his chakra before he saw him or even heard him, it had a salacious, airy feel to it. Kakashi who was so accustomed to it sensed it from far away. He tried sending out a waft of his own chakra to send him in the right direction from the start. He didn't have especially high hopes though- Naruto had, despite his uncanny ability to fight, never acquired more than a basic sense of chakra and the manipulation of it. He had been given refined tools but not the feel for it, and essential clue to his fighting style. His entire being was shrouded in warmth, faint but unrelenting like a fire seen from far away, telling people "here I am".
When he showed up in the clearing he looked concentrated, bordering on glum. He was not happy to be out here but recognized the necessity of it and therefore kept his mouth shut. Kakashi thought about the years that had passed. They hadn't spent this much time together since they had been teacher and student.
"Konohamaru managed to follow me, even beyond the border of the forest but I think I managed to shake him off there." He looked a little happier at the prospect of the third hokages grandson improving to such an extent that he could now follow him without causing a commotion. Kakashi wanted to ask if he'd raised suspicion but didn't.
Naruto continued: "I don't think he understood what kind of mission I was going on, he does this a lot. It's still a game..." They both took a second to think about other games they both had played in their youths.
Naruto stretched and ruffled his hair a little, he'd cut it a tiny bit shorter but his hands weren't used to it, those few centimetres still made a difference with their absence. He looked a little lost. It had been a while since he had stopped wearing the usual eye-catching black and orange full body suit, now he wore a mix of different official uniforms. With a surge of lust Kakashi realized he donned the latest version of the ANBU-pants, close-fitting and black, showing off the muscles in his legs, he forced himself to look away to keep himself from staring. Everything connected to ANBU felt like his own, it was like he'd worn a pair of his pants.
To his relief Bisuke came back at that exact moment, reporting that Pakkun had caught an unknown scent leading out of the village.
"Allright" he said and looked Narutos way too see if he had heard, which it seemed he had.
"Let's go."